SL principal asks judge to order boy's bail

SOAP LAKE - A 16-year-old boy who allegedly threatened to shoot and kill students, staff and a family member, is still free on no bail after an emergency court hearing on Wednesday.

Soap Lake Middle/High School Principal Phillip Winters asked Grant County Superior Court Judge John Knodell to order a bail or at least an ankle monitoring device for the student whose threats prompted school officials to close the school on Tuesday.

The judge ordered the juvenile's house be searched by law enforcement for weapons and he be arrested immediately if he violated any terms of his release, but stopped short of ordering bail.

Another hearing will be held on Feb. 3 to address the same matter.

Winters referenced other recent school shootings nationwide and the youth's threats and previous delinquent behavior as reasons that he should be monitored more closely by law enforcement.

He read a statement from a Soap Lake Middle/High School guidance counselor who said the student told her he would "come in and shoot everybody in the school." He was released into his grandmother's custody on Monday, but Winters said that the student also threatened to kill her.

"Who is physically going to keep him from coming to the school and doing harm to the students?" Winters asked Knodell.

The boy's attorney said he lived six miles away and it would be difficult for him to get to the school to harm anyone.

Winters said that in 2012 the boy broke into the school at night and caused $20,000 in damages to computers, television sets and security cameras.

"He didn't seem to have any difficulty getting to the school then," he said.

Winters spoke calmly but appeared visibly rattled.

"Would you open the school tomorrow if you knew a boy who made those kind of threats was still free," Winters asked Knodell.

"Well that's your call," Knodell said.

On Jan. 23, the boy was arrested after he allegedly told a guidance counselor that he had access to 25 guns and would use them to kill students and staff, according to court records.

He was released on Monday and ordered to be under 24-hour surveillance by an adult, not contact any Soap Lake students or staff, not come within 500 feet of the school, be home by 8 p.m., and not be around any dangerous weapons.

The boy's attorney said he has gone through counseling sessions and has more scheduled.

Winters said he was unsure if Soap Lake schools would remain open while the boy was free. School was closed Tuesday because of the situation and reopened Wednesday. No more schedule changes were announced as of press time Wednesday.